7 Ways to Stay Sane While Planning the Biggest Day of Your Life

You’re engaged (AHH!). It’s exciting. You’ve shown off the ring (and he did sooo good, AHHH!!). Everyone’s happy. You’re Facebook official. You’ll soon have a new last name (AHHH!).

And then the excitement calms down. You can finally breathe! SO you do – and it sounds kind of like: “OHMYGOSH, now I have a WEDDING to plan?!” Guess what? You’re not alone. Millions of girls have planned weddings; successful ones, too. And you can, too, I PROMISE.

You’ll survive.

You’ll actually have FUN, because you’re planning the biggest day of your life. Hey, I did it long-distance, so I KNOW you can do it!!

Whether you’ve been planning this since you were six or you JUST started…
Whether you’re keeping it super simple or having a hugehugehuge affair…
Whether it’s a castle or an elopement or a backyard or a beach…This article is for you.

There are some things you’ll inevitably forget during the process. But here are a few things that it’s VERY important to NOT forget; and they’re not all about the day itself. Grab a cup of coffee and read on, girl.

You’ve GOT THIS.

1 – BREATHE. Okay? It’s going to be okay. I know it. I know wedding-planning makes you feel pulled in four-hundred-and-ninety-two directions at once, but I promise you: you make the best decisions when you’re relaxed.

And in case you need some inspiration for HOW to actually relax (it’s easy to forget!):

– Get a good workout in (this was a BIG one for me; helped me release that stress and kept me in somewhat of a routine). – Swim. Or better yet, find a hot tub. Ahhhh. – Drink PLENTY of water. Get a coffee. Make tea. – Get your nails done (or do them yourself!). – Watch a romantic comedy or your favorite crime show (either works!). – Bake. Cook. Do something that ends up delicious. – Read. – Go shopping (and I don’t mean for wedding stuff). Thrift. Window-shop. Hit up a yard sale.

2 – STOP THE PINTERESTING. Sure, Pinterest is a GREAT place to get inspiration. It’s a treasure-trove of ideas. Aaaandddd it’s OVERWHELMING. At one point in my planning process, I realized I just had to get off of Pinterest and get out there and let my own ideas take over.

I highly recommend gathering those ideas and then forgetting Pinterest exists (at least as far as wedding stuff goes). It sounds crazy to give up the world’s most lucrative idea source right before you plan the biggest event of your life, but the truth is that not ALL those ideas will work for you. So don’t stress over all the perfect weddings you see on there.

Yours will be perfect. And beautiful. And Pinterest-worthy.

But get off Pinterest!! I don’t know if it’ll work for you, but it definitely worked for me.

3 – TAKE TIME TO DATE. Spend real, legit, in-person time together, and here’s the catch: don’t talk wedding stuff. Don’t talk paperwork, budgets, apartments, taxes, guest lists, or whatever. Talk about the honeymoon, your future first Christmas, your favorite memories, what you’ve been reading. ANYTHING but the catering or the distant relatives that you don’t want to invite or the postage for the invitations.

There’s a time and place for all that discussion stuff – but it’s not on a RELAXING “date” with your future husband.

4 – DELEGATE. Here’s something that’ll be hard for some of you control-freaks (like myself!). You don’t have to do it all alone. I was a very DIY, hands-on bride, which meant I had a LOT to do/make/create from scratch, and that kind of stuff takes time. There are plenty of people around who want to help, and part of the struggle for you might be letting them help.

I’m the kind of person who feels like she’s burdening someone when she asks for help. But it’s simply not true – especially around your wedding! They WANT to help. My mom, sister, dad, and fiancé were indispensable in helping me get projects done. Dad and Mason and I assembled, addressed, and stuffed our invitations in just one afternoon, which would’ve taken me AGES to do all by myself!

So take that help. It’ll result in some of the BEST memories!

5 – IT’S OKAY TO PAY FOR SOME STUFF. Like I said, I was quite the DIY bride. I wanted to do EVERYTHING by myself and stick to our very low budget. But here’s the thing: sometimes it’s just not worth it to do it yourself.

One of the best investments we made was our amazing caterer – I originally didn’t want to pay full price for every single guest, but let me tell you: SO WORTH IT. Our caterer was amazing and took a huge load off my mind.I also had my hair done for the same reason. I didn’t want to have to worry about something going wrong (what worse day for a bad hair day than your own wedding?!), so the money shelled out for a professional to do my hair was so worth it to me.

Choose what you can do, and make sure you stick with that. Invest in what’s important – for you, that might be something other than hair and catering, but even if you’re on a budget, sometimes the best choice is spending that money for that peace of mind.

6 – PLAN YOUR MARRIAGE. Not just your wedding. It’s a cliché, maybe, but important! Once the celebration is over, you’ll need to have somewhat of a working knowledge of how marriage is supposed to go.

Premarital counseling is *amazing* – our pastor was super flexible and we did a lot of it over FaceTime or marathon style when we were home. Read books. Read blogs. Read Scriptures. Journal. Study the qualities of a good wife (or husband!). The wedding will pass, the marriage will last. That sounds SUPER cheesy, but it’s true.

7 – Lastly – and such a cliché – HAVE FUN. Weddings are FUN. Wedding planning is honestly some of the most fun stuff I’ve ever done.

Don’t let it overwhelm or consume you – ENJOY EVERY MOMENT.

Congratulations, beautiful! You’re about to have the time of your life.